Christmas and Quaffles
by sailor's delight
Summary: Oliver and Katie doing some last minute Christmas shopping and reflecting on a Christmas past. KBOW


**Christmas ****and ****Quaffles**

"Okay, so that just leaves my parents," Katie said as she checked off another name off the list. "I really should do something nice for them after last year," she added in a low voice. The Christmas she was referring to was when she was eighteen and a recent graduate of Hogwarts. She shocked her family and parents to the core when she told them that she was moving in with her Quidditch star boyfriend of two years in his apartment in the city. Well moving away wouldn't exactly describe it…more like running away. Yep, mom and dad _loved _that one. Thankfully, her parents had forgiven her, and told her they would love her the same, even if it did take until Easter. Katie now had an internship at St. Mungo's and was training to be a Healer.

"I'm just shocked they invited us to Christmas at all," Oliver said to his girlfriend in his thick Scottish accent.

Katie looked up at him puzzled, "Why wouldn't they? They love you!"

"Yeah, _before_lastChristmas. Now it's a little different. I can just see it now, 'Merry Christmas Mr. Bell, remember me, the guy who's doing your youngest daughter and ran away with her when she was eighteen?'" he said with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Katie rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm. So, maybe it was true…but so what if Oliver was the guy who she ran away with at eighteen…and so what if he was sleeping with her. They would just have to deal with it. And how could they resist loving Oliver and his crazy Scottish-ness. It's what she fell for after all. Anyway, it wasn't so much her parents she was worried about; it was her brothers. Alex and Kyle Bell were Katie's older brothers and were _very_ protective of their baby sister. She knew they wouldn't do anything too traumatic to their younger sister's boyfriend, but Oliver better be up for some intense interrogation.

Katie tugged her pea-coat tighter around herself and ran a hand through her thick, straight blonde hair to shake the snow out of it. A light snow had begun to fall in Hogsmeade and she really wanted to finish her Christmas shopping and warm up. She reached for Oliver's warm hand and laced her fingers through his, looking up at him and offering a kind smile.

"You'll be fine," she said and gave his hand a squeeze.

He stopped on the sidewalk amidst the last minute Christmas shoppers and pulled her to his chest and smirked.

"Thanks Kates," Oliver said as he brushed the hair away from her face. She leaned her face closer to his, bringing their lips together in a sweet kiss, going up on her tip toes. Katie smiled against his lips and with her eyes closed reminded them what they were doing in the middle of Hogsmeade the day before Christmas Eve in the snow.

"Come on, just one more present and then we can go home." By home she meant their less-than-spacious apartment in the city. It wasn't much, but it was all they needed. Even though, Katie was dating the starting keeper for Puddlemere United after all. Wasn't there more money in professional Quidditch? "I've only been off the reserve team for a year Katie; I'm not going to be making big bucks for a while," Oliver told her every time she complained about their living arrangements. Just be patient, he always told her. Well, patience just happened to not be one of her virtues; it never had been. Didn't Oliver know this? She was his chaser on the Quidditch team at Hogwarts for five years, and oh yeah, they had been dating for two years.

Oliver sighed and the couple headed towards a store that Katie's mother liked to shop at, in hopes of finding something for her. Katie pushed open the door, pulling Oliver into the warm shop. After a few moments of watching his girlfriend browse, Oliver decided that he wouldn't be much help, and told Katie that he would wait outside for her.

A couple of minutes later, Katie emerged from the store with her parent's presents wrapped up in a bag, and looked down the street for Oliver. It was pick out anyone on the busy street, but she then saw a figure staring into the window of the Quidditch shop holding a few bags, completely oblivious to the shoppers or snow falling around him. Katie sighed, but smiled, shook her head and made her way across the street. She put her bag on the ground and snaked her arms around Oliver's waist, her smile growing larger when she felt him jump in surprise.

"Looking at new brooms?" she said with the same amused smile on her face as he turned in her arms to face her.

"You should see the accessories they just got in! There's this pair of gloves that improves your throwing accuracy by 98! And you're guaranteed to never drop the quaffle! It's bloody brilliant!" Oliver said to her with an excitement in his voice that could only be brought on by seeing new Quidditch gear. His excitement and smile slowly faded though at The Look. The Look was what Katie gave Oliver when he started talking about Quidditch too much, or when she feared he might dump her for a broomstick or quaffle or something.

"Aww, come on Kates, don't be that way. We've been over this, I'm not going to leave you for a pair of Quidditch gloves," Oliver said and kissed the top of the blonde's head. As much as he loved Quidditch, he hated to see how his obsession affected the girl he loved.

"It's okay," she mumbled into his coat. By now, they (meaning Katie) were receiving envious glares from female shoppers. Now that Oliver was the starting keeper for a professional Quidditch team and happened to be completely gorgeous, he was starting to be recognized on the streets. This was something he did not enjoy since being vaulted to stardom, but as much as he hated it, Katie hated it twice as much.

Oliver chuckled into her hair and Katie looked up at him and narrowed her brown eyes saying, "But this does _not_ mean we're putting a quaffle on top on the tree."

"Oh why not!?" Oliver replied desperately.

"I've told you, it's tacky!" she said to him, exasperated.

"Fine," Oliver caved. He wrapped his arms tighter around Katie and she rested her head against his chest again.

After a few moments, Oliver broke the silence saying, "Well, how 'bout a snitch?" and earned himself a flick on the head.

**Disclaimer**

Anything that is recognizable from any of the _Harry Potter _books is property of J.K. Rowling and I make no profit from it.


End file.
